Kiwi pushes up to US75c

Friday 25th March 2011

The New Zealand dollar pushed up to US75c for the first time since early March, led by a solid rebound in the euro.

The kiwi peaked around US75.20c against the greenback early today, easing to US75.03c by 8am. That was up from US74.55c at 5pm yesterday and a strong rebound from the 6-1/2-month low around US71.15c on March 17.

The euro rose against the US dollar on optimism European policymakers will be able to control a political and debt crisis in Portugal.

The fall of the Portuguese government following the resignation of its prime minister is expected to dominate a summit of EU leaders starting today, with Lisbon under intense pressure to seek a bailout package.

ANZ bank said the so-called risk currencies, including the Australian and NZ dollars, had been on the march overnight, led by a solid rebound in the euro ahead of the EU summit.

The NZ dollar had received decent support from a government bond tender yesterday, which attracted significant bids.

The NZ dollar also lifted to 60.73 yen at 8am from 60.33 at 5pm, while slipping to A73.38c against the aussie from A73.60c at 5pm, and being little changed at 0.5289 euro. The trade weighted index rose to 65.60 at 8am from 65.45 at 5pm.

NZPA

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